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A group of singing cyclists were met with rapturous applause when they rode into Guildford town centre on Sunday (April 27).

Eleven singers from Guildford’s Vivace Chorus were nearly at the end of their 200-mile ride from Paris to London, to raise money for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

The team chose the route to coincide with their performance of the Verdi Requiem in the Royal Albert Hall on May 18. Paris is where Verdi started writing his work.

The choir chose to raise funds for Rainbow Trust because of their connection with Guildford-based composer, Will Todd, who was asked to write a piece for a children’s choir for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2012.

Mr Todd's daughter, Rowan, and his family have relied on Rainbow Trust for support with care and treatment.

He said: “Rainbow Trust have been there for us through thick and thin - providing practical support as well as being a shoulder to cry on. They are amazing and we value their support enormously.”

James Garrow, 66, chairman of the Vivace Chorus, said: "There were 11 of us who set off on Friday afternoon.

"Will Todd is a great friend of the choir. We have raised nearly £10,00 for them.

"It was worse in anticipation than actually doing it, we weren't blessed with the best weather. We had some beautiful times and some wet times."

Michael Jeffery, 80, of Broad Street Common, added: "I felt it was worth celebrating my stage in life with some sort of challenge and fortunately here we are celebrating a concert we are going to do at the Royal Albert Hall.

"The reception just now was staggering. It was an achievement."

The idea of doing the charity ride came from tenor Owen Gibbons, a keen cyclist and a relatively new member of the choir.

“Not long after I joined, I heard about this fantastic opportunity we were being given to sing at the Royal Albert Hall,” he said.

“It’s an expensive business for an amateur choir to put on a concert on this scale and we needed to make as many people as possible aware of it.

"It seemed like the perfect excuse to do something a bit mad and raise money for a local charity at the same time.”

The team started from Paris last Friday (April 25) and arrived at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday this week.

They stopped off in Guildford on their way, where the mayor, other Vivace singers and family and friends welcomed them.